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[Wyvern]

...Right, I should actually go and update my planetary shield mod, which was in fact designed to be a suggestion of a way to make the structure actually useful - and actually a choice.

Specifically, it makes the shield generator reduce pather interest values, if and only if the colony doesn't have freeport toggled on. The justification being that it's much harder for them to smuggle things into the colony, if you're actually checking for things being smuggled in (i.e. aren't using freeport). Give them enough incentive (a huge pile of AI cores, for example) and they'll put in the extra effort to manage it anyway, of course.

And my planned update for 0.97 compatibility is to have the amount that it reduces pather interest by be significantly increased if you've cleared the pather crisis event.

[Bungee_man]

Planetary shield buffs ground defenses, which is among the most unused stats in the game. Its maintenance cost is the counterweight to that. It also nullifies the meteor impacts condition, which might make a barren world viable in rare circumstances. Overall, it doesn't have a huge impact, and certainly doesn't need a nerf - you pay a small amount for a usually-negligible benefit.

If it were reworked to be an industry, it'd need substantial benefits - reasons to build it instead of (or supplementary to) a military base, which provides ground defenses, stability, and fleets that defend the entire system. I'm not sure what those benefits would be - forgoing mining->refining->HI+commerce on a barren world is a major cost, given that that setup guarantees a complete supply chain. Likewise, a conventional habitable world's mining+farming+LI+commerce is pretty clearly its best option (though Luddic Majority makes farming+LI+commerce somewhat competitive, if you have another source of organics).

[landryraccoon]

I agree that the shield should be buffed, not nerfed.

Making the shield an industry is basically taking it out of the game. No one would ever use it except for RP or a joke.

I think the Shield should be buffed to remove irradiated as well as meteor impacts, so it's an occasional habitability bonus. Letting players change the color would be a huge cosmetic buff actually.

[Ragnarok101]

What we know:

The shield is rare enough only one planet in the entire sector has one, period. It's equally rare compared to the friggin Gate Hauler.

Therefore, it should be something that provides an equally good benefit. Maybe reduced to prevent spam, but still really good.

I like the idea of implementing that mod Wyvern makes into the base game, especially since the Pather crisis is a constant running sore rather than an easily endable issue. I also like the possibility of it messing with habitability problems - TASC offers something semi-similar by letting you build domed cities and the like to alleviate hazard modifiers.

[Siffrin]

especially since the Pather crisis is a constant running sore rather than an easily endable issue.

Come on now just give the Pathers the PK I'm sure that giving the terrorists a bomb won't come with any future ramifications. 
(This is in anticipation of anyone who thinks giving the LP the PK is an acceptable way to resolve their crisis)

[nathan67003]

Idk if making something you don't like the equivalent of raw sewage is "fixing" it lol

[Üstad]

Planetary shield should negate negative effects of extreme weather conditions, meteor impacts and extreme heat. Shouldn't cost an industry slot, the defence needs to be buffed, it should lower pather interest and it should be buildable only in one planet.

[Bungee_man]

Mitigating pather interest while freeport is on wouldn't make it all that useful. Freeport is desirable in early-midgame to grow colonies faster, and in late-game for more accessibility (in late game, you've also got enough AI cores that reducing interest won't do much). Also, Pather cell success rates depend on stability, so, as it is, turning off freeport will essentially end them.

Given that nothing really threatens colonies on the ground (the player will always do whatever's necessary to prevent such an attack), I think making the shield significant would entail it providing some other kind of benefit. The shield is a visual reference to Star Control II, so maybe drawing on that for inspiration would help. Shielded planets had only one interaction with the outside world - an orbiting station that provided logistical assistance to passing fleets. The world below was tightly regulated (for its own good), and had very little conflict, accordingly.

We probably don't want to do anything too drastic, but having the shield consume a large amount of some material (volatiles, transplutonics, equipment?), add some stability (living under a giant shield tends to dissuade lawbreakers - it's an ever-present reminder that you're living under someone's authority), and provide a relatively small access penalty. Essentially, it'd be something that allows freeport and commerce to be reliably used together on planets where you don't have enough stability to otherwise do so. Planets pay a flat premium, plus a little bit of access, and have to have a large industrial base behind them, but, in exchange, stability is no longer a problem as long as every other mitigating action is also taken.

As for making it an industry, I'm not sure how to make that worthwhile. Mentioned before that M+R+HI+C is pretty unbeatable, as is M+F+LI+C. Luddic Majority + F+LI+C is sort of competitive, but means you're stuck importing organics unless you have another source. One route might be to treat it as a faction-wide vanity project - high cost, including maintenance, high resource consumption, and maybe you can only build one, but putting it on your largest colony adds stability and fleet-size everywhere (partially due to sheer impressiveness, and partially because a stable, well-defended center of government makes everything move more smoothly).

[Dadada]

Keep as is till we get an industry rework (I want to believe, also more planet types, conditions and maybe another industry or building, pretty please).

[Nettle]

What we know:

The shield is rare enough only one planet in the entire sector has one, period. It's equally rare compared to the friggin Gate Hauler.

Therefore, it should be something that provides an equally good benefit. Maybe reduced to prevent spam, but still really good.
modifiers.

I think you are onto something here, and some other peeps too. It doesn't really make sense for presumably a Domain-era artifcat to be a trivial, infinitely spammable building. And I'm surprised no one has said it yet: why not make it into a one-off colony item with proportionally powerful effects?

[Killer of Fate]

Idk if making something you don't like the equivalent of raw sewage is "fixing" it lol

it would be a very powerful building if raiding was stronger from NPC factions. And I've not played Nex, so I assume there planetary shield is what I think it is... Mandatory.

One of the aspects that causes NPC raiding to be as weak as it is, is I assume the check in settings tab where raid strength for NPC factions is set to 0.5 (unless it isn't what I think it is, more testing required), I assume for balancing or pro-fun reasons. But this makes typical defences weak. Because useless...

Another issue is that NPCs are bad at dealing with space stations, with only factions I saw being reliably able to take them down are Remnants. But that's cause Radiants are just so freakishly overpowered.

[FooF]

I like the idea of it being a unique colony item, rather than a structure that becomes mass-produced.

If it were such a stand-alone item, it could be buffed to fairly extreme levels. “Effectively raises ground defenses to unassailable levels, barring a PK weapon. Tighter access control of global airspace reduces insurgent activity to a maximum of -1 stability and keeps unwanted forces from reaching the surface.”

The thought here is that the planet in question is virtually impossible to disrupt directly. Shortages can still hurt it but raids, AI inspections, invasions, and other destabilizing activities bounce off it. The blurb about a PK weapon is quite intentional, though!